By: Jackson Clay, Editor-in-chief
IPNews-Monrovia: While Liberians continue to wrestle with the debilitating effect of poverty and limited access to basic social services, there appears to be hope for a brighter future with the entry of charity institutions aimed at inspiring hope and empowering lives.
One of such charity organizations is the Yelobah-Cares Foundation, a Liberian-owned initiative which was officially launched today in Monrovia by its founder and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Orlando S. Yelobah.
Speaking at the official launching ceremony, Mr. Yelobah pledged to break the vicious cycle of poverty and social isolation in Liberia, as well as to restore hope for a better future of all persons, especially underprivileged youths, women and the elderly.
Mr. Yelobah, who is a native of Voinjama District in Lofa County but now residing in the United States of America, narrated that life was very difficult for he and many others while growing up in Lofa which subsequently forced him to move to Monrovia in search of greener pasture.
According to him, becoming successful today is because someone, or a few persons, yesterday decided to reach out and lend him a helping hand. As such, he sees it as a moral obligation to give back to society because there are many disadvantaged persons of today who are faced with similar challenges he experienced yesterday.
The Foundation’s CEO did not fall short of attributing his success to God who he believes is the architect of the successful life he has accomplished so far.
However, he indicated that such gratitude must not only stop on the lips, but must be demonstrated through actions because there are many disadvantaged children, youths, women and the elderly across our communities who need our intervention.
“We can’t just be grateful on our lips; we must demonstrate that through our actions because there are many disadvantaged children, youths, women and the elderly across our communities today who need our intervention. They really may not need much, but the meager we can send their way may put that lasting smile on their faces”, Mr. Yelobah intimated.
Upon declaring the foundation officially launched, Mr. Yelobah then reaffirmed his Foundation’s philosophy of living not for selves, but for others; because once we can help someone along the journey of life, then our living shall not be in vain.
In a related development, the CEO of the Yelobah-Cares Foundation has called for a national peace and reconciliation dialogue aimed at bringing stakeholders on the roundtable to iron out their political differences and carve an inclusive agenda for the progress of the nation.
According to Mr. Yelobah, the waves of protests, counter protests and continuous hate messages from all sides of the political divide which ushered in the new year ought to be resolved promptly, but cautiously before it degenerates into personal hate and further divide the country that is already challenged economically.
He challenged all sides, the government and the opposition, to see it imperative to find the melting point in all of these sacks of disagreements with the goal of forging a common agenda that impacts the greater good of the Liberian people.
